The Count's World 17: Year of Mr L
by The Great Allie
Summary: Mr. L has been spending a lot of time away from Castle Bleck lately. When it starts to interfere with his work as one of Count Bleck's minions, Mr. L is going to have to decide which is more important to him, Mr. L... or Luigi.
1. 17 dash 1

Meetings in Castle Bleck always started on time. Nastasia set the schedule at the beginning of every week for two in advance, and hung it in the kitchen for all the minions to see. Any changes were accompanied by a memo delivered to everyone's room so that they would be certain to know about it. The meetings started promptly on the hour, with everyone present and accounted for. There was no contingency plan for starting the meeting if anybody was late, because no one had ever dared to be late by more than a few minutes, except for when Dimentio couldn't be bothered to show up (in which case the contingency plan was "don't wait for Dimentio.")

That's why, ten minutes after the scheduled meeting time, Count Bleck, Tippi, Nastasia, Dimentio, Mimi, and O'Chunks were all standing on their pedestals, waiting awkwardly for the last member to show up. Mr. L had never been this late before, even or late at all. Nastasia stood on her pedestal, lips pressed tightly together, and the other minions stood by, slightly too meek to speak up.

"Um..." Mimi raised her hand. "I know that we don't like to get started before everyone's here, so that you don't have to, like, repeat yourself and junk, but... don't you think we should get started?" Waiting for ten minutes is hard, but doubly tedious when you're standing up with nothing to focus on to distract yourself. As far as Mimi knew, they'd been waiting close to an hour and her skinny little knees were killing her.

Before Nastasia could answer, the door to the meeting room flew open and Mr. L came charging in. He was running as quickly as he could while also trying to fit his arms through his sleeves, get his feet all the way in his boots, and tie his black mask over his face. It looked like he hadn't had a chance to change from his Luigi clothes before he arrived. "I'm here! I'm here!" he shouted. "Did you start without me? I can catch up!" He squeezed down and jumped up as hard as he could, landing on his pedestal. His bandanna fell off and floated down to the ground. "Oh, darn!"

Dimentio clicked his fingers, transporting the bandanna from the ground below to Mr. L's feet. Gratefully, Mr. L picked up the bandanna and tied it around his neck. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered.

"Not at all," said Count Bleck, though his voice was not quite as courteous as it normally was. Nastasia remained silent. "Though we do need to get started quickly, as there's much ground to cover."

"Quite right," agreed Nastasia. She picked up her clipboard. "First item on the agenda: Our next goodwill mission is to be to Seaside Town. The fisherman's boats keep running into trouble with the pirate Jonathan Jones, and they need a third party to settle their territory disputes. O'Chunks, we'll need you to fight the pirate in case things get rough. He's a huge blue shark. Think you can handle that?"

O'Chunks flexed his muscles. "Think I can handle it? Yer talkin' to O'Chunks here, lass. If there's a pirate I can't chunks, I ehn't found 'im and chunked 'im yet."

"Very good," said Nastasia. She made a check mark on her clipboard. "Mimi, we'll need you to transform into one of his Bandana Blue buddies and collect intel. think you can do that?"

"Okay," said Mimi, "but I'll need help with my tough guy talk. Also, can I do a Bandana Red? Blue is so out this season."

"Yes you may, and O'Chunks, please coach Mimi in punk etiquette."

"Yeh want me to do two things?"

"Dimentio," Nastasia continued, "Yeah, so, I have you scheduled to go off on your own and manipulate the situation to meet your own ends. Should I go ahead and keep that in?"

"Yes, that sounds about right," said Dimentio.

"Mr. L?"

Mr. L winced. "Yes, Nastasia?"

"Will you be coming on this mission?"

The way she said that, so thick with irritation, made Mr. L's stomach feel tight. "Yes ma'am," said Mr. L.

"Very good. Your Brobot is most effective at crowd control. Now. I'll turn the floor over to Miss Timpani, who will brief you in all the information you'll need to know." She handed a small stack of packets to O'Chunks. "Take one and pass it around. Please refer to the packets as you listen, and use these as reference before and during the mission."

Tippi, as an information pixl, was able to tell them all about Seaside Town, the toads there, the fishing industry, the thriving marketplace that was the backbone of their economy, the multiculturalism that came from being a port town, and anything else she thought it useful to know. She also knew a fair deal about Jonathan "Johnny" Jones, and the minions were far more interested as she told them tales of the haunted, sunken, giant-squid-infested ship he and his bandana sharks called home. Mr. L paid special attention, hoping to make up for not having been there earlier.

The meeting ended ten minutes late, as Nastasia had planned it to be exactly one hour long. As soon as the minute hand hit 12 on the clock the minions grew antsy and restless, but she kept them there until 1:10 on the nose before she finished talking and nodded to Count Bleck. Taking his cue, Count Bleck called, "Meeting adjourned. Minions, you are dismissed." The minions were already jumping off their pedestals and making plans to meet up and hang out for a while when Count Bleck added, "Mr. L, may I speak to you for a moment?"

Mr. L froze, but then looked up and grinned nervously. "Uh, sure."

Count Bleck dismissed Nastasia and sent Tippi on ahead before floating down to the ground to meet Mr. L. "You're not in trouble," Count Bleck said.

Normally, people said that to reassure whomever they were talking to, but it never succeeded in allaying any fears. "So why did you keep me after?"

"It's about your habitual tardiness," said Count Bleck.

"Habitual?" Mr. L looked surprised. "It's only been a few times."

"Five times in a row," Count Bleck pointed out. "I wasn't going to say anything because a few minutes here and there can easily be written off. But since it was so long today..."

"I know," Mr. L said quickly. "It's just that I can't get through dimensions myself, and I stayed longer than I thought I was going to..."

"Where have you been going?" asked Count Bleck.

"Going? Where? Me? Uh, nowhere." His face went red, as it always did when he was hiding something.

Count Bleck tilted his head.

"Home," admitted Mr. L with a sag in his shoulders. "I've been visiting with my brother a lot lately."

To his surprise, Count Bleck smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"... You are?"

"Yes. Count Bleck always has said family is important. It saddens me to think of you spending little time with your own brother."

"I promise I won't be late again," said Mr. L.

"If you let us know ahead of time, it's alright to miss a meeting," said Count Bleck. "Like I said, family is important."

"Yeah," said Mr. L.

"Go on," said Count Bleck. "You may do as you wish."

* * *

Mr. L found the others outside. Dimentio was helping O'Chunks set up a homemade, balsa wood goalpost in the front yard. Another goalpost was lying in the dirt nearby. Mimi was digging a hole in the ground with a small trowel.

"What's going on?" Mr. L asked.

"We're playin' Sky-ball," said O'Chunks with a grunt as he and Dimentio hefted the goalpost standing. "It's finally ready fer play-testin'."

"No kidding?" Hands behind his back, Mr. L sauntered up to the erect post. "And you got Mimi and Dimentio to help you? What, did you blackmail 'em?"

"None of your business," said Mimi. "There are no incriminating photos of me even in existence!"

"What? Incriminating photos of you doing what?"

"Um, that's why I'm playing the game, duh," said Mimi, flipping her pigtails. "So you never find out."

"I need four," said O'Chunks.

"Sure, count me in," said Mr. L. "Sounds fun."

With the one goalpost fitted in the ground, O'Chunks went to put up the other. "You help with this one," said Dimentio. "I have splinters in my hands."

"Aren't you wearing gloves?"

"Oh, they got through the gloves a while ago."

The goalpost wasn't very heavy, but it was awkward and unwieldy. The goal was a good ten feet off the ground, and five feet wide. They both had to prop it upward and ease it into the hole Mimi dug, then bury the dirt around it. It wobbled and wibbled, but it stayed standing.

"Good." O'Chunks took out a piece of chalk and went around the yard, drawing a square that went from one goalpost to the other, and extended out so they were at the center of each end in a large field of play. When he came back, he was carrying a melon bug. "This little fella has graciously agreed ta be the ball for this game. Now, yeh can kick it, push it, whatever, so long as yeh don't hold it when yeh move aroun' the field. Also, there's no touchin' the other players, no floatin', no magic of any kind. What yeh gotta do is get this li'l guy through your goal without lettin' the others get 'im through theirs. Sound good?"

"When do I get the photos back?" Mimi asked.

"When one o' us gets to 10." He dropped the melon bug on the ground. "How do you wanna split up the teams?"

"I wanna be on your team," said Mimi.

"Sounds fine to me," said Mr. L. "Dimentio?"

Dimentio shrugged. "I don't really care," he said. "So long as nobody else hears that tape, I'm fine with whatever happens."

"Then... GO!"

Despite the fact that his friends had to be blackmailed into participating, the minions got into O'Chunks's game quickly. It was pretty hard to get the ball in the goal when it was over everyone's heads, so they had to get creative. It was also tricky to move the ball across the field when you had to stay put holding it- this forced them to rely greatly on their teammates and reading their cues. Dimentio played surprisingly fair, keeping his feet on the ground at all times and never once trying to teleport the ball with magic. Mr. L wondered what exactly was on that tape to make him so cooperative. Mimi, who was normally very uncoordinated in everything except her outfits, turned out to have a knack for the game. Naturally the team that had the game's inventor on it was expected to win the first ever match, but if Mr. L was counting correctly, by the time the score had hit 9-4, Mimi had scored twice as many goals as O'Chunks. Dimentio had only scored one, and that was quite by accident when he'd tried to cut off Mimi, slipped on the dirt and kicked the melon bug over his head backwards and through their goal.

After Mimi scored her sixth goal, energy was high. All four of them stood in the middle of the field, waiting for O'Chunks to toss the ball back into play. "You know," said Mr. L, "if we let them get one last goal, you can stop playing."

Dimentio flashed Mr. L a grin. "And let them beat us? I should say not!"

Mr. L really liked the 'new' Dimentio that had been around the castle lately. This new one was still condescendingly superior and notoriously tricky, but he participated more, smiled more, engaged more with the others. He was the kind of person you felt safe calling a friend. Not that Mr. L had yet done that out loud, but still.

"Go!" O'Chunks tossed the bug. Mimi grabbed it and passed it back to O'Chunks who was running to the side of the field.

"Got it!" Mr. L jumped in the air and intercepted, grabbing the bug in midair. He dropped it on the ground and kicked it like a soccer ball, running down the field.

"No you don't!" Mimi squealed. She caught up with him and kicked the ball out from in front of his feet.

Mr. L tripped over Mimi's foot and went sprawling. Both his legs were swept out from under him and he landed hard on his right knee.

"Time out!" O'Chunks made a T with his chunks.

Mimi had her hands at her mouth. "Ohmygosh!" she squeaked. "I didn't mean to do that! I was just trying to take the ball like in soccer! I'm super duper sorry, Mr. L! Are you okay?"

Mr. L was lying on his stomach. He pushed himself up and turned over into a sitting position. "I think so," he said. The fabric on his pants around his knees had been torn on the ground, and it was bleeding. Mr. L laughed. "Would you look at that," said Mr. L. "I don't think I've skinned my knees since I was a kid."

"Do you need me to go get help?"

"Nah. Just help me up. I'll go inside and wash this off."

Just then the door to the castle opened up. Count Bleck was standing in the doorway. "Minions," he called, "it's time for dinner!"

As the minions head into the house, all making sure Mr. L was able to keep up wit them, he couldn't help smiling. "Wow," he thought to himself. "Right here, right now, I've got the best family a guy could ask for. I must be the luckiest guy in any dimension.."


	2. 17 dash 2

On the morning of the mission to Seaside Town, Count Bleck awoke to find a note taped to his door: Had to leave; meet you in Seaside Town. L. "What do you think?" he asked his wife, who was lying down on the top of his hat.

She yawned. "That you should meet him in Seaside Town," she replied. "I'm still sleepy."

He tucked the note in his cape. "I wonder where he had to be in the middle of the night."

The rest of the minions were in the castle, and after a quick headcount, Count Bleck took Mimi, O'Chunks, and Dimentio out to Seaside Town. Nastasia and Tippi arrived shortly after.

Seaside Town was a small town with a lot of interesting things. Most sleepy towns on a travel route made do with an inn for tourists and a shop for regulars. Seaside Town was a showcase for all the impressive goods that came from or into the port. Exotic accessories, rare items, and even places that only accepted certain currencies could be found in this little town beside the sea. There was a field on the far west that ended in a cliff overlooking the ocean in which the pirates who terrorized the townspeople lived.

"You'd better get to know the place," Count Bleck said when they arrived. Really, he was stalling for Mr. L, but he didn't want to say it. "Take a look around."

The minions did, and spent the morning enjoying themselves. O'Chunks found a store that bought beetles captured from a nearby mountain, and enjoyed bantering about bugs with the shopkeeper. Meanwhile, Dimentio found a toad who claimed he could tell whether a mushroom was rare or not by tasting it, and spent the rest of the morning trying to get him to admit he was lying to get a free meal by playing various tricks on him until Count Bleck had to break up the fight. Mimi, in the meantime, had gone to the sunken ship disguised as a small shark in a red bandana.

At around noon, the village elder approached Count Bleck, who was sitting on a crate beside the inn. "So," said Elder, "I can't help but notice you've been here for a few hours, eating our food, causing a disturbance, and not helping us with our shark problem."

"Yes," said Count Bleck, "we're just waiting for the last one of us to show up."

"Well, we have a ship that's all ready to go out with barrels and barrels of stock, and we need to make sure Johnny doesn't get his fins on it. It had to sail out of port three days ago," he said with extra emphasis.

"Yes," said Count Bleck. "Well, my minion Mimi is in disguise to try and defuse the situation from her end.

Elder raised an eyebrow.

Count Bleck cleared his throat. "I'll just... go and get the others, then."

Ten minutes later, the villagers of Seaside Town were gathered around the plateau overlooking the ocean, giving it a wide berth. Count Bleck, O'Chunks, Nastasia, and Tippi were standing in the middle of the clearing with the village elder among them.

"How do we summon him?" asked Count Bleck.

"He'll come when he knows we're gathered," said Elder. "He always knows."

Sure enough, after only a few more minutes of quiet stillness, the waters rippled and an enormous blue shark jumped out and landed on the ground at the side of the cliff. Three more sharklings with red bandannas around their heads followed, and then three with blue bandannas. These six sharklings surrounded the blue shark, Jonathan Jones, as he sauntered up into the group.

The Seaside Town residents visibly tensed as Johnny approached. Seeing how nervous they were, one of the Bandana Reds made a jumping motion at one of the Seaside toads, causing him to startle terribly. The two Bandana Blues on his sides both laughed at this, making the toad very upset.

"Yeah, that's not good," Nastasia muttered to Count Bleck. "We're already losing control of the situation. If the sharks are allowed to walk all over the townies, it could drastically change the way the negotiations proceed."

"I know, Count Bleck whispered back."

Johnny had a definite swagger in his fin-walk. He clearly knew he was the top shark here, and that he had the most control in this situation. That meant as far as he was concerned that everyone had to bow down to his wishes. "Well," he said proudly, "I understand we're having quite the meeting about me."

One of the villagers, the Snifit from the Beetle Shop, shouted out, "Why are you sinking our boats, Jonathan Jones?" The others around him began to murmur in agreement before Nastasia shushed them. The shushing, however, also reinforced that Jonathan Jones was calling the shots because no one had bothered to reel in his own sharklings.

"You see that out there?" He pointed out at the sea with his trident. "That big, blue thing stretching in all directions? That's mine. That is my ocean, and I run it as I see fit."

"Be reasonable, Mr. Jones," said Tippi. "You can't claim ownership of the entire ocean."

"Normally, I couldn't," agreed Johnny, "but it seems to me like I've got the muscle to back it up."

"Yeah!" agreed the sharklings. Count Bleck scanned them to see if one of them was Mimi, but he couldn't tell.

"Look," said Elder, "I really think we need to come to an agreement here. You can't keep sinking our boats, Jones, and we are prepared to take action against you should it continue."

O'Chunks flexed his muscles. "Yeah! You'll be gettin' a taste o' me chunks!"

Johnny looked O'Chunks up and down and then laughed. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right? This is the best you got?"

O'Chunks face soured.

Johnny waved a flipper. "Look, I ain't afraid of a musclehead like that. I clawed my way to the top taking out muscleheads like that, so don't think you can threaten me."

If Mr. L were here, thought Count Bleck, Brobot might intimidate him in ways O'Chunks cannot. Of course, it was only wishful speculation, as Count Bleck had heard no word from Mr. L. Still, he had counted on having more muscle in reserve, as O'Chunks, skilled as he was, cold only take on one at a time.

"Oh," said Johnny, "and if you were already thinking you might still have any sort of upper hand on me..." He picked up one of his Bandana Reds by the collar, then threw it over to the ground before the Count. "I think that's one of yours? Yeah. I've been feeding her the wrong information all day just to see if she would bring it back to you."

In a puff of purple smoke, the Bandana Red turned back into Mimi. She looked up sheepishly at Count Bleck. "Oopsie," she said weakly.

One of the Bandana Reds threw his spear after her. "G'wan, git outta here!" he shouted.

The spear veered a bit off course and landed at the feet of Miss Mole, who ran the health food store. "Hey! Watch it!" she snarled.

"Gonna make me?" the Bandana Red sneered.

"You can't talk to my lady like that!" the Snifit shouted.

It seemed like everyone began shouting after that.

"Ocean hogs!"

"Tresspassers!"

"Your bandanas are ugly!"

"Your faces are ugly!"

"You're not so tough!"

"Come over here and say that!"

One of the toads threw a rock across the clearing, and it landed right on Johnny's snoot. He grabbed his nose immediately (shark's noses are very sensitive.) "Who threw that?" he demanded. "Who threw that?!"

The crowd parted to reveal two young toads pointing at each other.

Johnny thrust up his trident and a small crowd of backup Bandana Blues and Reds jumped out of the ocean behind him. "Come on, boys," he growled, "let's show these townsfolk why they don't mess with Johnny Jones."

Count Bleck darted into the middle of the confrontation. "Now just a minute," he said, desperately trying to get the situation under control. "There is still a chance to talk this out and-"

"The time for talk is over!" shouted the Snifit. "We won't be pushed around anymore. Besides," he added, "you'll help us, won't you?"

"Well- I mean, of course- but-"

The two sides charged and clashed in the middle of the cliff. O'Chunks grabbed Count Bleck by the cape and pulled him out of harm's way, as he was in the middle of the melee. "Don't worry, Count," he said, "I'll chunk 'em good fer ya!"

"Very well, but-"

Suddenly a portal opened and Mr. L jumped through, out of breath. He was clutching a small purple amulet that aided him in moving through dimensions. "Sorry I'm late," he panted. "I- oh."

"Because your Brobot wasn't around," said Count Bleck, "Jonathan Jones was able to manipulate the situation to his own end."

Mr. L, looking like a deer in the headlights, reopened a portal and jumped back through. A minute later, an enormous dimensional portal opened and BroBot came crashing down into the clearing. When he hit the ground, everyone else was knocked into the air.

"That's enough of that!" he shouted through Brobot's speakers. Brobot's hand reached out and picked up Jonathan Jones by the tail. "I think you need some time to cool off." Brobot swung Jonathan Jones around a few times and then threw him off into the horizon. There was a light twinkle, and he was gone.

The Bandanas, seeing what happened to their leader, quickly jumped one by one back into the ocean. The townsfolk stood silently in awe of the giant robot.

Mr. L jumped out and landed on the ground in front of Count Bleck. "Well," he said lamely, "I'm here."

All eyes were fixed on the human. Not used to being the center of attention, Mr. L looked quickly down at his shoes.

"We needed you," said Count Bleck simply.

"I know," mumbled Mr. L.

"You let us down."

"I know."

"I need to know that I can trust my minions," said Count Bleck.

Mr. L felt his face go redder.

"I want to be on your side. I _tried_ to be on your side. I think it's important that you spend time with your brother. But if you need to be there more than we need you here, you can't tell us you'll be here and not show up." Count Bleck turned to the other minions. "Come on," he said. One by one, each of them cast a look at Mr. L and followed Count Bleck back to Castle Bleck. Right before Count Bleck warped away behind the rest of his minions, he said, "You have a lot to think about. I suggest you get your priorities in order and you do it quickly."


	3. 17 dash 3

The next morning, Mr. L called a meeting by sticking a memo on everyone's door, then going to the meeting room and waiting. He figured everyone was still mad at him, and was honestly surprised when, at about five minutes to 10:00 (the time for which he'd called the meeting) the other residents of the castle began to trickle in. Mimi, Dimentio, O'Chunks, and Nastasia took their usual places. When Count Bleck arrived he took Mr. L's usual place as he'd done when they held a one-on-one meeting to discuss Fawful.

"Well?" Count Bleck said gently.

Mr. L was confused. Then he realized he was standing on the floor. "Oh! Right!" He bent down and sprang up onto Count Bleck's usual pedestal. "Um... I guess you're wondering why I called this meeting."

"To apologize?" Mimi guessed curtly.

"Yes." Mr. L found he mumbled, and his next words came out as almost a shout to make up for it. "But also to explain." He cleared his throat and finally found a middle ground. "See... I've been spending a lot of time away from the castle, and I think it's only fair that you know why." He shifted uncomfortably, one hand wringing the other as he stood. "I said I've been spending a lot of time at home with my brother, Mario. That's not entirely true. I have been spending a lot of time with Mario, but we haven't been spending it at home. We've been adventuring." He looked out at his friends apologetically. "I never know how long it's going to take me to get back here, and I never know when I'm going to get the chance."

"Is that all?" Count Bleck said with surprise. "Why didn't you just tell us? We'd understand. We could even help you get back if you told us where you'd be."

Mr. L sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "Well, it's not just that. I've also... well, there's no easy way to say this. My brother asked me to come back to adventuring with him. Full time."

The others were shocked, and in the stunned silence that followed not one of them could think of a way to break it. Suddenly they weren't as angry as they had been. A few minutes ago, they couldn't have cared whether or not he was in the castle that day. Now it was all they could think of, how much they didn't want him gone forever.

"The thing is, he needs me," continued Mr. L. "There are a lot of things that he can't do by himself, that no one person can do by themselves."

Mimi piped up in a small voice: "But... we need you."

"Aye," agreed O'Chunks sadly. "That we do."

"I know," said Mr. L. "When I came here to stay, it was because my brother didn't need me. He was always going off on adventure and leaving me behind to watch the house or something, and wait until he came back. Then I came to this castle, and I was Mr. L, and I was important, and all of you needed me. When I went back home all that time ago, it was a real let-down, to go somewhere I was important to somewhere I was ignored. I came here because you guys needed me when he didn't. But now he needs me too, and I don't know what to do about it."

Again, it was silent, and very awkward. Finally, Mr. L concluded the meeting: "I know I have to make a decision, because when I go back and forth, I let everyone down. I haven't, yet, but I'll let you know by the end of the day tomorrow." Then he jumped off the platform and scurried out of the room.

Mimi looked around at the others. "You don't really think he's going to leave, do you?"

"I think he might," replied Dimentio.

"Well, whatever he chooses to do, it will be his decision," said Count Bleck. "I expect all of you to support him fully, is that clear?"

"Yes, Count," said his minions obediently.

* * *

Mr. L stayed in his room for a few hours before venturing back out into the castle. It was quiet inside, and it felt empty, so he ventured out onto the grounds for a walk. To his surprise, he found O'Chunks, Mimi, and Dimentio playing Sky-ball again. The goalposts were still set up from last time.

"Hey," Mr. L said with a wave. "Got yourselves blackmailed again?"

"No," said Mimi, dodging left and kicking the ball out of O'Chunks's hands. "We're playing for fun this time."

"No kidding." Mr. L was impressed. "Need a fourth?"

Just then, a little red cape darted out from behind O'Chunks, jumped over Mimi's head, and snatched the ball out of her hands, then threw it aside to Dimentio, who scored a goal. Mr. L blinked rapidly. "Fawful?"

"Ha ha!" Fawful laughed wickedly. "Did you not see the mastery that Fawful has over this simple game of dodge and catch?"

"Yeah, I saw, I saw," said O'Chunks gruffly.

"You guys must really be mad at me," said Mr. L.

"No." Mimi tossed her pigtails. "We just figured you would be too busy to come and play with us."

"You are mad."

"Not mad, per se," Dimentio explained. "But you did say that you were constantly leaving us to attend to matters elsewhere, and that you are honestly considering leaving us to attend to those matters."

"Well... yeah, but-"

"We didn't mean to snub you," said O'Chunks. "We really thought yeh would be too busy."

"Is Fawful missing something important?" The little bean man looked up at the faces of the others in confusion. "Green Moustache honestly may choose to leave the Castle of Bleck?"

"I'm thinking of moving back with my brother," explained Mr. L.

"Ah. Green always did his best work when he was paired with Red. If you do truly choose to return to such a status, Fawful believes you will be unstoppable once more."

"But he's unstoppable with us," Mimi pointed out.

"Ah... not to discount the amount of good he has done by our side," said Dimentio cautiously, "but if I recall correctly, our missions tend to end anywhere from adequate to near failure, starting all the way back with that delightful incident where we turned both rival gangs of Rogueport against us."

"That was your fault."

Dimentio held up his hands quickly. "I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't! I only meant that... well, when our Mr. L is with Mario, he rescues entire kingdoms, drives off invasions, saves princesses, wins races, has parties, and even stops the destruction of entire dimensions."

"Are you saying... that we're not good enough for him?"

"I'm saying if I had a choice between you all and Mario, I just might be tempted to pick Mario too."

"But didn't he only come here because Mario was too busy and kept leaving him behind and ignoring him? That's not gonna change."

"It has changed," O'Chunks said sternly, "that's what started this whole mess in the first place! He's adventurin' with his brother, like he always wanted."

"Would you guys stop?" Mr. L snapped. "You're making this harder than it already is!"

The others fell silent. Mimi awkwardly kicked at the floor as she watched her feet.

"Green Thunder is right," said Fawful. "Making such a decision is difficult enough as it is. Let's not dress this tossed salad of confusion with too much ranch so as to disguise the taste of fresh, crisp vegetables."

Dimentio picked up the melon bug and tossed it to Mr. L. "Why don't you play for a while? It'll get your mind off this for a while. That will make it easier to think later on."

"What about you?"

"Ah, I have many matters to attend to, and I shall attend to them well, like a wise... something... something, something." Dimentio disappeared.

"Are you even trying anymore?" Mr. L asked the air where Dimentio had been.

Mr L, Fawful, Mimi, and O'Chunks all played Sky-ball for a few hours after that. Somehow, though it was just as much fun as it had been the other day, much of the magic was gone. Mr. L remembered going inside afterward, thinking about how he had the best family he could ask for in these.

'Family is important,' he thought as he watched O'Chunks finally score a goal in his own game. 'But these guys are my family, too. How can I leave them?'

It seemed that no matter what Mr. L chose to do, he would be leaving his family behind.


End file.
